LAST Thursday night was the first hit out for the Nowra Blues Australian Football Club for this season.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Going head to head with team mates can always be a scary situation for the coaches, as you want to see your players go hard for the ball while also praying that none of your players are injured before the season starts.
This night was exactly that, as the boys were placed into team sky and team navy and were told to earn the right to be considered for first grade selection - come season kick off.
It was a hard fought, sometime scrappy start to the game, which turned into a free flowing, fast running affair.
Forty players turned out on night and all seem to have one thing on their mind - to impress their coaches in their first real hit out for the year.
We had a great mixture of young, fast guys stepping up from juniors this year and old, experienced players using their knowledge to still push for selection.
The first quarter was a tight even affair, with team Navy having most of the ball in the opening minutes.
This resulted in the opening goal going to the youngest player on the field, 15-year-old Slade Wellington.
Team Sky hit back minutes later with a goal of their own, through one of the clubs stalwart, Brad Clark.
The rest of the quarter was a scrappy affair with no team really providing quality delivery into their forward lines.
The second quarter was a different story.
Sky’s Marco Basaglia and Michael Pelda started to get the ascendancy through the middle, while Joe McDonald started to provide his forwards with quality delivery.
Navy’s backline, led by Harry Sawkins and Jeremiah Lenesauria battled hard to repeal the attack.
However, the amount of ball coming in, it was only a matter of time before team Sky’s forwards, led by Liam Walsh and Adam Weller was able to put scores on the board.
Sky, in the third quarter, continue its dominance through the middle but again Navy’s backline held strong and kept the damage to a minimum.
Caleb Sutton was impressive down back for team navy and he caught the eyes of the coaches in what was a surprising performance.
New to the game, Aaron Smith battled in the backline also for Navy.
For someone who really didn’t know much about the game, he did not look out of place running around with more experienced players.
Navy, in the final quarter, dug deep and produced a more even contest.
Junior players James Eagleton, Cooper Perry, Shannon Timbs, Kerry Redshaw and Slade Wellington started to come into the game more and their youthful legs started to cover the ground at a pace the older guys couldn’t handle.
It was exciting to watch Eagleton go in the middle and go toe to toe with the senior on-ballers.
Perry’s and Redshaw’s tackling and general hardness at the footy made the coaches all take notice.
Then there was the speed and athleticism of Timbs and Wellington that left us wanting more and it’s exciting to think that Nowra has these kids coming through the ranks.
Nowra is in a good position at the moment with good numbers, great sponsors and an awesome committee that is striving hard to see this club get back where it belongs, a competitive entity within the South Coast AFL.
Thanks to all that were involved in the night, our committee who organised jumpers, umpires and all the equipment to make it possible.
It’s still not too late to be involved with this great club this year, as training is on Tuesdays and Thursdays up at West St Oval starting at 6pm.